Game 30 - ASUN QF	#8 NJIT (9-20, 6-10 ASUN) at #1 Liberty (27-4, 13-3 ASUN)
Date | Time	Tuesday, March 3, 2020 | 7pm
Location | Arena	Lynchburg, VA | vines Center
Live Video	ESPN+
Live Stats	In-game statistics (free)
All-time series	Liberty Leads 4-0
Game Notes	NJIT Notes  | Liberty Notes

Newark, NJ - The NJIT men's basketball team opens up ASUN Tournament action Tuesday with a quarterfinal matchup at top-seeded Liberty.

Watch Game Live on ESPN+
The game will be streamed live on ESPN+.  Matt Warner will handle the play-by-play, while Paul Nazigian will provide the color commentary and Emily Austen will be the sideline reporter.

A simple way to find ESPN+ is on NJIT's official athletics website, www.njithighlanders.com. Near the middle of the home page under the headlines section, an upcoming events calendar lists scheduled NJIT contests. After finding the event, click the camera icon to the left of the event listing. That brings you to an ESPN+ portal where you can access the desired program.

STUDENT-Athletes
The ASUN announced its academic honors on Monday and a pair of Highlanders were on the list. Reilly Walsh was named ASUN Conference Scholar-Athlete of the Year and joined senior Shyquan Gibbs on the ASUN All-Academic Team.

Iron Man
Shyquan Gibbs played in his 124th career game on Saturday and took over sole possession of the program's games played record. Tim Coleman, Gibbs' former teammate and fellow Saint Anthony High School alum, previously held the record with 123 games played. Saturday should also mark Gibbs' 106-straight start, which is the longest active streak in the ASUN and ranks 13th in the nation. 

Number One
Zach Cooks leads the ASUN in scoring at 19.8 ppg, more than two points higher than any other player in the conference. Cooks also leads the conference in steals per game (1.7) and minutes per game (37.5).

All-Time Series
Tuesday's meeting is the fifth all-time between the  Highlanders and Flames. The squads met twice in each of the last two seasons, with Liberty winning each time.

Last Three Meetings:
2/15/20: Liberty 62, NJIT 49 -- Lynchburg, VA
1/4/20: Liberty 65, NJIT, 38 -- Newark, NJ
3/1/19: Liberty 57, NJIT 51 -- Newark, NJ

Last Time Out vs. Liberty 
LYNCHBURG, VA - A late run lifted host Liberty past the NJIT men's basketball team, 62-49, in front of 4,745 spectators at the Vines Center on Saturday evening.

A layup from Souleymane Diakite cut the Flames' (24-3, 10-2 ASUN) lead to just one, 35-34, with 12:30 to play in the contest. Liberty scored the next six points to get the lead up to seven and NJIT (7-18, 4-8 ASUN) couldn't get closer than five the rest of the way as the hosts held on for their fifth-straight victory.

Scouting the Flames
Liberty was selected to win the ASUN Conference this year after taking the ASUN Tournament title last year and finished tied for first in league, while winning the tiebreaker over North Florida.

The Flames are giving up just 53.6 ppg, which ranks second in the nation and first in the ASUN.

On the court, the Flames are led by 2019-20 ASUN Preseason Player of the Year Caleb Homesely. Homesley is averaging 15.0 ppg and is joined in double figures by Scottie James (11.1 ppg) and Georgie Pacheco-Ortiz  (10.6 ppg).

Liberty won eight straight before falling in its last game at Lipscomb.

Coach's Corner
Liberty Head Coach Ritchie McKay is in his second stint leading the Flames. McKay coached for two seasons before leaving to join Tony Bennet's staff at UVA. He then returned to Liberty and is in his fifth season of the second stint.

McKay has more than 300 combined career wins after stops as the Head Coach at Portland State, Oregon State, New Mexico and Liberty. 

Last season, he led the Flames to the program's fourth NCAA Tournament and helped lead them to their first win, as they defeated five-seed Mississippi State. 

Up Next
The winner of Tuesday's matchup will advance to Thursday's quarterfinal round. If its NJIT, the Highlanders will travel to the highest remaining seed, and if it's Liberty, the Flames will host the lowest remaining seed.